In a post I wrote in Russian I reflected on the fact that in one superstore in Moscow city centre the till operator didn’t even attempt to give me change. It was only 10 kopeks, one tenth of a r...
Wait For Me is not just a war-time poem; even in normal, peaceful life there are plenty of chances to fight, to struggle and to survive....
The film after Stephen King’s novel is counted by many as a favourite for a good reason. Shawshank Redemption is the metaphor for the will to live, the power of focus, the ability to create the ...
Moscow tube map with “proper names Considering that Bloggers Portraits are being shot in the studio located on the lower ground floor, that is underground, the theme of “alternative”...
I‘ve said before that, when I came to England, the thing that stood out the most was the absence of books anywhere on display in the house. The majority of houses I visited had books shelved som...
A friend of mine told me recently that this photo of a fountain in the Manege Square looks like it was taken somewhere in Paris. I trust that he knows better; as for me, I’m glad that I was able...
A self-payment terminal in Moscow This is one area where Moscow is positively ahead of most of the UK (and I’ve been pretty much everywhere, except Scotland and Northern Ireland). You no longer ...
An application of the dog-rubbing luck charm A couple of years ago I read in someone’s Russian LiveJournal about the custom among the Muscovites: to touch, rub and sometimes even kiss a sculptur...
There’s another reason for me to be proud of studying at the First Humanities Building. Near the entrance there now stands a monument to Walt Whitman who has always been greatly admired by the R...
First Humanities Building, Lomonosov Moscow State University This is a true story. Around September 1996 I had a dream in which I saw a modern-looking building decorated with a plaque with carv...